On to better things...

It's been a busy week for us here at the Mighty Masters Academy. Last Thursday we had some computer problems which put a stop to some of our learning, but also taught me a valuable lesson; do not be so dependant on the computer. Since then I've made sure to have things ready in the event of a computer emergency. I also managed to learn how to fix a lot of performance and security issues on the computer. Old dogs can learn new tricks.
Now the computer is back up & running and we are back to work. One of the first things we did this week was take a look at the Lifepac curriculum. It was becoming very clear that this language arts curriculum does not fit our family. In the kid's words, "It is boring and it doesn't make any sense!". At first glance it seemed like the perfect solution. It laid out everything they needed to learn in a way that made it easy for me to teach & there lies the problem. I was too worried about getting it right & making it easy on me. I was focused on my fear instead of trusting that I could teach them in a way that is natural for them.
The curriculum went over things that were unnecessary or could be taught in a way that made it more exciting. Now it did give me the joy of checking off certain things, but afterwards the kids were left not understanding what they had read.
So we have switched over to something new. Which is the thing I had originally felt drawn to until I started letting fear set in...
SIMPLY CHARLOTTE MASON
This website has links to all the information about Charlotte Masons' teaching method. However our method is going to differ in many ways. Mostly what we are focusing on is the use of dictation, narration & copy work which will be done using our bible study & history material. So far this has worked out wonderfully for us. Killian is able to see grammar & writing in its proper form. We are also able to make spelling list for Lotus; spelling words she is actually struggling with. I also get to work on grammar and sentence structure as it comes up. Lotus is good about telling me what she doesn't understand, but it takes a little more investigating with Killian. Yet its easy to see what he needs help with when he's right there with me. This might take a little more effort on my part, but its worth it.
We are still using the same math and history curriculum, which seems to be working great. I'm learning that I need to be constantly looking for new ways to teach the kids that works with there individual styles.
We also added some new books to our science curriculum. Basically we took the Knox County guidelines & found ways to teach it with living books & experiments. Another factor is our use of the nature journal (a Charlotte Mason method) to instill a love for nature. Lotus is loving it. Killian on the other hand could take it or leave it which will lead me to another post later. For now Im off to teach & learn

Tolerance

Last night as I looked at our blog I wondered what people thought when they saw how much importance I place on teaching the gospel of Christ. I wondered if the words I wrote did justice to what we actually teach. Let me explain. In the past few years my life has changed tremendously and I attribute that to my faith. God is the reason for the healing, for the joy & for this opportunity. To be honest a few years back I wouldnt have had the patience to homeschool my kids. In fact I barely could do homework with them without losing my cool. In the past I yelled more than I would like to admit. Some might ask isn't that just the result of maturing or couseling, but without a doubt the thing that made the most difference was allowing Christ to transform me. Allowing him to heal the parts of my heart that were once broken.
This has become a major part of my families life, because the children & Scott have seen the difference it has made. I believe ,because of that, that teaching the kids about the bible, about who Jesus was & is, and teaching them who God is & what they mean to him is more important than anything else. I take very literally Matthew 6:33,

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness & all these things will be added unto you."

I know that if I do nothing else that I must instill in them a faith that will carry them through this life. However I also know the importance of teaching them tolerance & to think for themselves. Obviously history teaches us that Christianity has been misused & misrepresented. We as Christians would be foolish to ignore our history, the good & the bad. The fact is there is no religion (or spirituality) out there that has not succumbed at one point to hatred, inequality or various other negatives. No matter how pure something is, in the hands of imperfect people it becomes tarnished.
I want them to practice a faith that brings wholeness & I believe that Christ offers that. I believe this because I have taken many different paths to get where I am today & in the end I found what I was looking for in the one thing I tried to run away from. Yet although I believe the bible is true & I believe Jesus is the answer. I also look back on where I came from & see God in it as well. So I balance my teaching of the gospel with tolerance. Although that word doesnt quite fit what Im trying to say. I want my children to do more than just tolerate other faiths. I want my children to be able to discern whats right & wrong even in the church we serve. I want my children to love like Jesus loved. I want them to put their faith into action & faith in action is more than just judging everyone else thats different. Its seeing the heart of a person. Its seeing whats behind the way a person lives. It's looking past what something appears to be & seeing what God see's. There are a lot of grey areas that one day will be made clear. However in the here & now all I can do is make it as clear as possible to my children & pray that God guides them as he sees fit. That may or may not look like the faith I practice, but in the end that might be something greater than what I have come to know. Perhaps they will not make the same mistakes that I have made or that have been made throughout history. Maybe what I teach them today is only a small vision of who God truly is. I can only hope that they will do greater things than these (John 14:12), but in the meantime I teach them what I know.

Todays other work...

Before our trip to Ijams we had some other stuff to get out of the way. The boring stuff. Well only if you think learning is boring.
Both Lotus & Killian worked in their lifepac workbooks. Lotus also practiced her spelling words online using Spelling City. Then Killian did an online study of the Erie Canal & wrote a report on it. Lotus did ch. 2 of The Story of the USA & worked on learning the continents & oceans. Later we all read the preface & ch. 1 of "Walk the Worlds Rim". Very cool stuff.
At breakfast we continued our study of John & then the kids worked on memorizing their memory verse. This was a very special time for us. Especially when Killian narrated the whole thing back to me. It was incredible how much detail Killian remembered from the story, but Im starting to see that this is how Killian learns best. Lotus on the other hand does better when she can read it for herself. Its amazing how different two kids can be.
We also had a question come up that we are going to explore further...
-Why does fog form over bodies of water? (Each one of us gave our hypothesis, but we are going to do some research & possible experiment to figure it out for ourselves.)
This will be a great thing for Killian to research & then share his findings.

Todays classroom...

This evening we took a field trip to Ijams nature center. After a long day we needed to get out for awhile & science still needed to be done. So we packed up our nature journals & headed out to explore.

The journal activity was to make 2 list (living & non living), then find things that fit the definition of living & non living. Tomorrow I will go more in depth with them & look at what they put on their list, but tonight was all about exploration.

Luckily for us we found a net that suited our scientific exploration & helped up find snails & many other small creatures.

Plus we made a new friend along the way.

Then we almost lost Scott to the pond. Just kidding, but it was very tempting to push him in.

Afterwards we fit in a little physical education (AKA a walk through the woods).

Which led us to some much needed rest....

I think Killian took it a little too literally.

Right before going to bed Lotus told me that she loved homeschooling & I can honestly say I do too. We are only two days in, but Im loving it. God has truly blessed us.

First day of school...

Today was the first day of school(check out the photos page) & boy was it a full one. We started out the day getting used to the way we will be doing things. I explained where everything was & what they will be working on. We also got all our folders & notebooks together, then decorated them.
Then Lotus completed the first chapter of "The Story of the USA." Together we discussed & learned about the first Americans. While we were doing this Killian watched Episode 4 of "America, The Story of US".This is an incredible series that covers America's history. He learned about the events that would lead to the civil war. He also learned about early American industry such as cotton farming & the Erie Canal. Later we will do some activites to reinforce what he learned.
After lunch the kids took a small break which led to Killian taking an hour long nap. I guess waking up is hard to do when your not use to it. However this gave me time to work one on one with Lotus again. During this time she finished pages 1-7 of her language arts curriculum (Lifepacs). When Killian finally woke up he did pages 1-5 of his Lifepac.
Afterwards we went to the bookstore & library. Which was the perfect time for a little multiplication. I also used words I saw on billboards & had the kids take off the affixs to find the root words.
Now they are playing in their rooms, but I have a feeling it will be an early night.